News-Herald High School Hall of Fame: Hawken's Jerry Holtrey carved legendary career

After 45 years guiding this area’s quintessential high school swimming program, a line of well-wishers from his Hawken squad and from around Ohio was eager to greet Jerry Holtrey in February when the Division II state meet concluded in Canton.
In an understandable moment, the warm words and thankful hugs and handshakes had to wait. Holtrey took a seat across from Lane 2, staring off in the direction of the pool. There was a lot to reflect upon — the work behind the scenes that decided great splits, the splits that decided races and the races and performers that decided championships.
By extension, there were the stories from a legendary career — a career that adds one more honor with induction in the 2014 class of The News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Holtrey’s body of work has been well-documented as his career wound down this year.
Perhaps not as well-documented is how Holtrey shaped his program through the 1970s and into the beginnings of the dominance with which Northeast Ohio grew accustomed in the 1980s.
“We had our own ideas on how we wanted to do it,” Holtrey said. “The kids accepted the program we were offering, and they responded to the workouts and the yelling and screaming we gave them all the time.
“And consequently, when we started winning and winning some state championships, it just went from there.”
Two legendary coaches Holtrey credits for helping to cement his belief in how a program should be built and sustained were Cleveland State’s Bob Busbey and Wally Morton.
Busbey took over as the men’s coach of then-Fenn College in the 1951-52 season and remained in that capacity for 30 years. The natatorium at CSU is named in his honor. Morton succeeded Busbey for the 1981-82 season as men’s coach and just completed his 33rd and final campaign with the Vikings.
“I talked to both of them at length at different times and picked up some things I wanted from their philosophy,” Holtrey said. “Actually, what I’ve done over the years, every coach I’ve been under and the other coaches, I’ve picked up different bits and pieces from what they were teaching and coaching and incorporated it into my program.”
His program is the unquestioned benchmark for this area in the sport. Under Holtrey’s watch, there were 26 state team titles, including 16 straight on the girls side — which is the third-longest active girls swimming title streak in the United States. There were 128 state titles in individual events and relays, while the rest of the area has 42 combined.
Of the 503 top-four state finishes all-time by area schools, 326 — or 64.8 percent — were recorded by Hawken under Holtrey. Of the 14 area swimmers all-time with a minimum of six top-four state individual finishes, 11 are from Hawken.
When Holtrey is asked about some of the performers who shaped the program, many of the obvious names came up.
“But there are so many others that I’m leaving out that I shouldn’t because they started state championship teams that we had, and they provided the leadership,” Holtrey said.
“They were very, very good about making sure that the underclassmen understood the importance of swimming for Hawken and making sure they understood that they have a responsibility of doing the very best they could every single day in practice and in swimming meets.”
The journey also had its lighter moments. When Holtrey was profiled by The News-Herald in February, one story in that sense from a former swimmer stood out that has not been shared until now.
Sue (Emert) Malson, who was on Hawken’s first girls team to compete at state in 1980, recalled when Holtrey made an unscheduled stop in the team van at a Columbus store on the way back to the hotel after a practice at Ohio State.
“We all looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders and launched off into another conversation full of nervous energy,” Malson said. “A few short minutes later, Jerry hops in the van, tosses the bag on the floor behind his seat and continues on to the hotel.
“Well, we silly, nosy girls in the back seat snooped in his bag and found underwear and a toothbrush. In the excitement of leaving and getting us to the meet, Jerry had forgotten a couple key items. To this day, I am not sure who was more nervous: The four of us, or Jerry with a van full of girls at his first women’s swimming Ohio state championship meet.”
Hawken has taken vehicles full of swimmers to state ever since.
Its swimmers came from all over Northeast Ohio to compete for Holtrey, and their commitment was meaningful — all the way to that moment deckside in Canton in February.
“You know, I never thought about how far they were going,” Holtrey said. “I just remember that when they came, my responsibility as a coach was to make sure I gave them all the attention I possibly could to make sure they developed as much as they could.
“Because, as a coach, you have a responsibility to make sure that you do everything in your power to make sure they develop to the very best of their ability.”